Everybody loves the feeling of relaxation. Maybe for you this is a sunny day tanning on your deck, taking in the fresh air by breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. You are focusing on nothing but enjoying that moment – pure and utter bliss fills your body.
Although we all try to keep a good mindset and maintain that relaxation, sometimes we go through situations that disrupt that balance and relaxation causing tension in our muscles and body.
Everybody has also experienced a stressful situation where your body goes into this fight or flight response, you are alert, maybe you’re sweating, and your heart rate has increased. Why are you getting a response like that? Let’s take a deeper look into how stress comes about through our nervous system.
Our nervous system is working hard internally to keep us in a state of homeostasis and balance. There are two different parts of the nervous system to look at here, the parasympathetic nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is commonly known as the rest & digest system, whereas the sympathetic nervous system is commonly known as the fight or flight system.
Many people wonder if massage therapy benefits an individual mentally, in addition to the physical benefits. Although massage therapy does not make your stress disappear, massage therapy can help reduce the effects of stress that are affecting the body. Massage encourages your body, through the physical touch of the massage therapist, to have the brain send signals and messages through the body to rest and relax.
During a massage for example, a trigger point is present in your muscle and the RMT is putting pressure on that area. Once that pressure is applied you may feel a shoot down your arm, muscle twitch on the area being touched, your eyes begin to water, and your initial discomfort from the pressure on that tender point is decreasing as they continue to compress and work through it. Why is that all happening while the RMT is treating that trigger point? Your brain and body are giving autonomic responses to that area. Therefore, massage helps to increase your awareness of the areas of tension or discomfort. This then allows you to be able to have a more relaxed body or posture. Come to Waterdown Village Chiropractic & Wellness Group to benefit your body by getting a massage.